Above: Stack Up’s motto.
I don’t know what this is. I’m sure there’s a term for it. But because I was distracted — it’s like when you watch Law and Order SVU, when they’re talking to kids they put them in front of a coloring book, and they just ask them questions. We’re kind of doing the same thing. They don’t have their PR face on, their PR training, because they’re playing video games and swearing at NoobSmasher69. You’re not as guarded. I don’t know what that is, but it’s definitely something that happens. It’s what they’re looking at right now.
GamesBeat: It’s disarming to play Battlefield, I guess.
Machuga: It’s not even just that. Doing something where you’re not fully focused on, “I am sitting with a psychiatrist who’s asking very pointed questions about my life,” but instead, “I’m just talking with someone and having fun playing video games.” It’s a great way to broach topics that people may not feel comfortable with by putting a candy-coated shell around it, playing video games with them. I need to find out what that’s called, because I know there has to be something to it.
GamesBeat: How do you feel about social media and the ways that can be helpful? I notice there are more people now who go out on social media and ask for help than I’ve seen in the past.
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Machuga: I think that’s why things have been more interesting for us over the years. People are reaching out via social media, and people are in turn letting those people know that we exist and we’re here to help. We’re able to provide more support based on social media. It’s been very useful. I’ve found it extremely helpful.
GamesBeat: There’s still a lot of rage out there on social media as well. I guess it’s good to stay out of all that.
Machuga: Yeah, there’s no getting away from it. We’re in a very sensitive time in America. It’s tricky right now. It’s one of those things where you try to walk — it’s hard, on social media. I find myself deleting tweets and Facebook posts all the time and replacing them with pictures of puppies. I can’t tweet about that, so here’s a puppy. It’s one of those things where you do what you can with it. When used correctly it can be a force for good, but right now it’s very easy to get caught up in some real fistfighting online.
GamesBeat: As far as your goals for the future, beyond Memorial Day, what are some of those?
Machuga: One of our strategic missions for the charity was always to have video gaming taken seriously. Not just as — it helped me when I needed it. I didn’t realize that at the time, but it was one of those things where it saved me a lot of heartache and self-medication by just hanging out in Azeroth for 12 hours a day. [laughs] But I feel there’s value, that there could be therapeutic uses for gaming in the mental health space. I want to continue to see gaming be used positively in the space. I’m also a big fan of just letting — gaming is amazing. I love what gaming did for me, and I want people to feel as excited and happy about the industry as I do. That’s another big piece.
We’re in the middle of military appreciation month right now in May, and we’re running our Call to Arms event, which is our big online fundraiser for Twitch streamers, getting out and doing different events. If you want to find out more, just head over to stackup.org. Our Discord is discord.gg/stackupdotorg.
Above: Video games can help with suicide prevention.
GamesBeat: It sounds like you never really worried about whether games might have the opposite effect — that they could be bad for you or bad for society in general.
Machuga: Yeah, you always have the detractors out there. That’s anything, though. Everything in moderation. You could sit in the library and read books for 14 hours if you wanted to. There’s violent imagery and toxic environments out there, but that’s really anywhere. As toxic as things can get, the opposite is true as well. You can bring people together and form communities that can help one another. As we’re seeing here, through the use of gaming for mental health awareness and support — I’m willing to overlook the possible negatives.
You have to get people where they feel comfortable. Gaming right now is something a lot of people do from their homes, on their phones. It’s everywhere now. It’s no longer just the nerds and geeks in their basements. It’s become a bigger thing. We’re in the rock and roll period of the ‘60s, where you had Congressmen testifying and people talking about how it’s ruining America. Is it really? There are probably bigger things out there to worry about than this. I see the value here versus the negatives.
The old guard will eventually work their way out of places of influence. The kids who grew up with iPads and Minecraft will be our next senators and Congressmen. We’ll have a president someday who’s beaten Grand Theft Auto.
GamesBeat: We’ll probably have a Fortnite esports star as president someday.
Machuga: It’s a crazy thought, but we’re getting down that road. It’s just a big population contest. You get enough people behind something, nothing is impossible. In 20 or 30 years, who knows?
GamesBeat: Thank you for your service.
